Following the introduction of chilis from the Americas to East Africa, berbere spice has become a fundamental component of Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking. Each household has their own formula for this warm and spicy seasoning, but this version features a colourful blend of traditional ingredients that you can’t go wrong with. (Don’t worry if you’re missing a couple of the ingredients on the list; you’ll end up with a delicious spice mix even if you leave some of them out!)
Capsicum and Fenugreek
According to Plant Genetic Resources of Ethiopia edited by Engels, Hawkes, and Worede, red pepper is the most essential and widely used spice in Ethiopia, and of course it forms the base of berbere seasoning. In fact, the Amharic word for chili pepper is በርበሬ or berbere!
Although every cook has their own unique blend, the critical ingredients that make a berbere a berbere are chili (Capsicum annuum) and also fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum).
As Loizzo et al. write in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, “the combination of fenugreek and red pepper is essential to Berbere; while one or two of the other ingredients may be left out, the fenugreek and red pepper are must-haves.”
Recipe FAQs
In traditional Ethio-Eritrean cooking, berbere is used to flavour a variety of saucy stews called wots or tsebhi, such as misir wot (lentil stew) and shiro wot (ground pea stew) which are then eaten together with injera, a fermented flatbread. It’s also used to flavour an Eritrean tomato sauce called silsi.
As a dried spice blend, it’s technically safe for eating indefinitely, but it will start losing its flavour in a few months. It’s best to finish it within half a year. If you’re worried about not using it up in time, you can also throw it in the freezer, where it will stay potent for years.
You can use this spice blend in many non-Ethiopian/non-Eritrean recipes as well, and even as a replacement for regular chili powder. It works as a seasoning for these roasted cashews, or in place of the spices in this borani banjan (eggplant casserole) recipe. In Eritrea it’s also quite popular to add berbere to tomato sauce, for use in pastas, salads, etc.
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Traditional Berbere Spice Blend (በርበሬ)
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Ingredients
- 5 dried red chili peppers
- 2 tbsp smoked paprika see Note 1
- 1 tbsp paprika see Note 1
- 1 tbsp ground dry ginger
- 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
- 5 korarima pods or 2 tsp powder *can sub black cardamom
- 2 timiz *can sub 2 tsp black pepper
- 7 whole cloves
- 2 allspice berries
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp nigella seeds
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ whole nutmeg
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp mace
Instructions
- Optional: Toast the whole spices in a dry saucepan on low heat for a couple of minutes. Let cool.
- Add all the ingredients to a spice grinder or high-speed blender and blend until finely ground.
- Store berbere spice blend in an airtight container, at room temperature for up to 6 months, or in the freezer for up to 2 years.
Notes
- If you would like a hotter berbere, swap out the paprika with more dried chili pepper.
- The ingredients are listed in order of importance. If you don’t have some of the items near the bottom of the list (particularly the ones that are only 1 or 1/2 tsp), feel free to leave them out.
We absolutely love Ethiopian food and this stuff is exactly what I’m looking for. can you post some recipes with it??
Hey Norman, glad you found the post helpful! I’m getting close to publishing recipes for misir wot and shiro wot which both use berbere, stay tuned 🙂